NEW YORK — Apollo Group Inc., the country's largest for-profit school company, said Monday that it has laid off 700 full-time employees, mostly in student admissions, as enrollment drops off sharply.
In October, Apollo said it expected new students enrolling at University of Phoenix campuses to drop 40 percent in the quarter ending in November and withdrew its profit outlook for its upcoming fiscal year.
It has been expecting a steep fall-off in new students as the broader sector remains under increasing scrutiny from the Department of Education and lawmakers because of surging student loan defaults. Critics have accused schools like the University of Phoenix of using aggressive enrollment counselors to sign up students unprepared for college classes. The schools receive government-backed student aid, the bulk of their revenue, even if students eventually drop out of classes burdened with debt.
In response to the criticism and potential regulatory changes, Apollo implemented a free, three-week orientation program to weed out students unprepared for its curriculum. The Phoenix-based company also stopped paying recruitment counselors based on how many students they enroll.
A company spokesman said Monday he could not speculate if there will be more layoffs.
"This is a period of transition for us, and we're going to be very diligent about managing our costs through the transition," said spokesman Alex Clark.
The layoffs took place across the school's U.S. campuses, Clark said. As of Aug. 31, Apollo had 21,777 employees and 35,194 full- and part-time faculty. Apollo said in a regulatory filing that it expects to book charges of $5 million for the quarter ending Nov. 30 connected to the layoffs, but expects to start saving about $8 million per quarter starting in its fiscal second quarter.
A Phoenix radio station, News/Radio 92.3, first reported the layoffs on Monday citing anonymous sources.
Apollo shares fell 16 cents to close earlier at $34.30 and were up 2 cents in aftermarket trading.
yali100 posted at 12:59 pm on Sun, Dec 5, 2010.
A sports stadium does not determine whether or not a university promotes a quality curricula.
U of P is not the typical college model with two semesters and 15 credit-hours per. If that one-size-fits-all model worked for everyone, more students would have earned college degrees. In Arizona, 65% of students drop out from ASU within the first year. Only 54% graduate after six years. Only 34% graduate within four years. College is hard. It's expensive. And it's difficult for many people to pursue a degree, work and raise a family. Hence the development of the U of P model for working adults 23 and over.
U of P people do care. I graduated from the school. They helped me every step of the way. I'm sorry for your unhappy experience.
Did U of P prepare me for my current job? In many ways, yes, in most ways, no. But a similar degree from another university offered the same coursework. At least my courses were taught be people who worked in the "real" world during the daytime, such as Mayo Clinic and Barrows Neurological Institute. I learned from their daily experiences. It was a real eye-opener. What many of my instructors did not know was how to teach. They were not education majors. They did not understand how to impart their wisdom. So, I had to work harder to learn, but I did learn. When I attended a big-time university back east, I was one of 500 students in my classes. The classes were taught by graduate students. At U of P, in my core classes, I was one of only eleven students. I could contact my instructor day or night. If they didn't know the answers, they sought to find them for me.
U of P doesn't fit for everyone. But neither does ASU. The BEST education I ever received, by far, was from Mesa Community College. I earned 60 credit hours from them and I still refer back to what I learned.
The bottom line is you get out of education what you are willing to put into it.
I'm sorry for the 700 employees out of work. How sad for them to be jobless. How sad for you to rejoice in their demise.
Kathy1 posted at 12:46 pm on Thu, Dec 2, 2010.
Dear mesateacher,
The UoP is the WHOLE problem, not so-called 'lousy students' as you put it. I used to be a student that this school (and I use the word school with great hesitance), I left after battling for months with people in that place who did not care about the fact that test answers had NOTHING to do with the questions being asked. More than once, I was told "You are just going to have to study harder if you want to pass the quizzes". I would explain to them the problem, I even showed those people screen-shots of the questions and answers. Those individuals of UoP just DID NOT CARE!!
mesateacher posted at 5:17 pm on Mon, Nov 29, 2010.
Well, Merry Christmas to you 700! I have an idea for you: you need to rebrand yourselves, so enroll at UoP and get a degree that you can get that new job! This is a long time coming, but finally UoP has had its comeuppance. They have some great teachers, some good programs and degrees that are actually quite fine. Unfortunately, while chasing dollars they aldo have lousy students who want a quick, easy education. Let's hope the "university" will toughen its standards, make all of its degrees worthwhile, gain some respectability and give Phoenix something to be really proud of. Oh, and, they need a football team for their stadium. Maybe they can hire the Cardinals - they place about as well as a mediocre college team...